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About Me

Here
I would love to share with you our travels and adventures as international
consultants. About living in Italy, the Veneto area near Venice; in Indonesia,
central Java. Why we love the southeast of the United States and moved back from
Italy. Our love for gardening, the botanical way. Sharing with you our manifold
treasures from exotic places and even offering several in my Mariette's Back to
Basics LLC Boutique, for others to enjoy. As well as high end silver items from
Giovanni Raspini, Italy |
google.com/+MariettesBacktoBasics

I
also do classes and consulting... too much to list here! Check out my google.com/+MarietteVandenMunckhofVedderABOUT page, where you see my other LINKS and email address; you just scroll down.Thanks!

Love to
bring back some romance and quality to the daily life of others...

Translate to ANY Language | Click on▼ to select, than on ► to translate...

Monday, March 30, 2015

In husband Pieter's magazine: 'The Rotarian' from February 2015, there was a very interesting article about Facts of the Matter - Second Languages.

TWENTY-SIX PERCENT of U.S. adults and 25% of British adults speak a 2nd language. In the European Union, 63 percent of adults know at least one foreign language. Ninety-eight percent of people in Luxembourg speak at least one foreign language, and 84 percent speaks three languages. In Latvia, the percentage of people who speak at least one foreign language is 95; the Netherlands, 94; Malta, 93; Lithuania and Slovenia, 92; and Sweden, 91.

GLOBALLY, the most widely spoken language is Mandarin Chinese, which has nearly two billion native speakers, and the most popular second language is English, which has 335 million native speakers. More than one billion people are studying English today; it is the most studied foreign language in China. In the United States, Spanish is the most studied; Chinese is seventh.

THE GOVERNMENT of India recognizes Hindi and English as official national languages, but most Indians speak a third language as well: that of their region. All three are usually taught at school.

YOUNG CHILDREN are assumed to be the best language learners: They have twice as many brain synapses as adults and haven't yet burdened their minds with such things as remembering social security numbers or learning to drive a car. But researchers say their real edge is a heightened ability to mimic pronunciation: Studies show that, with ample practice and instruction, adults learn new languages almost as well as kids do, except for pronunciation. Also, adult learners have to master much more vocabulary than kids to seem proficient.

THE EASIEST language for native English speakers to master include Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian; each requires 23-24 weeks or about 600 class hours, to become proficient. The hardest languages for native English speaking are Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Japanese, which require 88 weeks, or 2,200 class hours.

THE TOP FIVE languages for business are English, Mandarin, French, Arabic and Spanish. The British Council says English is the lingua franca of publishing, airports, air traffic control, international conferences, science and technology, diplomacy, sports, pop music, and advertising. Eighty percent of the world's electronically stored information is in English. The market for digital English-language learning products is forecast to reach US $ 3.1 billion by 2018.RESEARCHERS AT THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculated the return on investment for English speakers of learning a second language: It boosts earnings only about 2 per cent. For Spanish, the return is 1.5 per cent; French 2.7 per cent; and German 4 per cent. Similar studies in Turkey, Russia and Israel, however, found a 10 to 20 per cent return on investment for people learning English as a second language. — KATE NOLAN

There is a book titled: history of the little sisters of Saint Joseph - For the least of Mine by Gabriella Dorren.

Fond memories of this Theresia Cloister, where also our Great-Aunt used to live, before I even went to this Fashion Design school. The sisters had a kind of a nursing home for the elderly. It was my Paternal Grandfather's sister.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Deborah Enos is a Health Food Spokeswoman and she did point out the affect of sugar on allergies so I want to share with you.

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF

Fending off spring allergies

By Deborah Herlax Enos

FIFTY MILLION Americans suffer from allergies.

I have spent the majority of the sprig season indoors and out of the line of fire. After years of dreading spring, I decided to fight back.

Here a few tips that have helped me.

Irrigate. Your nose, that is. Nasal irrigation is a part of one's daily routine in India and Southeast Asia. Look for a neti pot (looks like a little teapot) or nasal saline spray.

Take a shower. Pollen can really accumulate in your hair and on your skin. I find that if I take a shower before bed, my sinuses are clearer, making it easier to sleep.

Avoid peak pollen times. Stay inside from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you exercise outside, do it early in the morning, when pollen counts are lowest.

Shampoo your pet. Pollen can cling to your pet. Get a spring haircut for Fido and wash indoor/outdoor pets often. Keeping your pet out of your bedroom and off furniture can also be helpful.

Start cleaning. Do a thorough cleaning or, better yet, pay someone else to do it. Windows, screens and furnace filters collect mold and dust throughout the season, which can provoke your symptoms.

Go on an anti-inflammation diet. When you are suffering from allergies, your nose is already inflamed. Avoid eating foods that will cause more inflammation, such as sugar. (This is a good incentive to cut back on your sugar intake).

Sunday, March 22, 2015

From the French Journal des Femmes I found a great article, related to health, about 'Salty Foods Compared.'

Even if the Bing translation of the page is not perfect, you still get a good idea.
Saltiest food: Royal pizza. Why is it salty? Royal pizza, quiche Lorraine or Flammekueche... All these dishes are generally very salty. And for good reasons: they consist deli, cold cuts of meat.

She is so happy looking and this is the house where she came back for her last breath.

Mom in Church on my wedding day, with my baby-brother Jan to the left...

It was on February 9, 1973...

Mom congratulating me after Church...

Looking oh so happy and for sure she is now together in heaven with my late husband Frans...

~

“The things you can take with you: Love, Trust, Respect, Joy. The things you leave behind: Everything else.” ― Robert Charles Waldron

Mom during the reception, where guests do present the gifts.

My Paternal Grandmother is seated here and the lady with the black/red dress was my aunt, married to Dad's younger brother. She too went to heaven after having had kidney problems and going through dialysis...

My hair was till my waist at that time!

I will show you my self made simple wedding dress another time.

~

“We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living” ― Confucius

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Those that attacked us for NOT showing up at Mom's funeral, due to Pieter's health issues because of heart cramps, and me still going to rehab for my hand, we forgive their act of bitterness.

Monday, March 16, 2015

During the January Business After Hours from our local Chamber of Commerce (see link under photo header) I did win a lovely door price...

Photo is taken with my iPhone after a walk on the day that we received the metal wreath hanger and Pieter hung it for me.Cute Leprechaun, even though mine looks a bit constipated; the way he frowned his eye brows...

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Don't know about you but here in Central Georgia, the South-East of the USA, we had a very long winter - quite stubborn. So much about all those idiots that still scream 'Global Warming'...

Usually the Japanese Magnolia bloomed around Mom's Birthday, February 12, but it took till March 5 for 2015!

Gorgeous blossoms! Photo is from March 8...

This and the next photos, except last 3, are taken on March 7.
We did have some frost at night and because we were afraid they would turn brown, the photos were taken...

The final 4 segments of Vinyl Picket Fence have been added. First time that the Japanese Magnolia is having a picket fence backdrop!

The huge pine tree is gone now for over a year and the oak tree to the left had its lower limbs trimmed up, so now the Japanese Magnolia can grow out with enough space and light!

Guess within a couple of years the Magnolia will show more blossoms, it needs time to catch up.
This is how the heat resistant Centipede grass looks like in winter; brown.

The green grass you see here is not Centipede but another variety just to fill in where we had some erosion from the water that came from the higher part of the street. Now it gets blocked by the wall underneath the Vinyl Picket Fence!

So lovely to have spring blossoms!

Blue sky and Magnolia blossoms... Finally some beauty after years of browning due to frost!

We both are very pleased with this beautiful white vinyl picket fence backdrop.

This photo and the next ones are from Sunday, March 8. Just opened up a little bit more.

Perfect light too!

Are these not gorgeous?!

Sunday afternoon we took a long walk in the sunshine, it was still 21°C (70°F) by 6:00 PM and we just did change to daylight savings time the previous night.
Compared with Horst in The Netherlands, where it was by midnight (local time) 8°C, after their first gorgeous sunny day.
Happy Spring to all of you in the northern hemisphere!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Just being frank and honest; YES I am addicted to DARK Chocolate... On February 23, I did enjoy my LAST (!) piece of dark chocolate letter 'M' with my hot tea. They are all gone and I'm about to make me something chocolaty to enjoy. Do you like chocolate as well? Yes, I know I'm diabetes type 2 but I will NOT give up my dark chocolate. Hell no!